The Special Needs Process.
In the course of my tutoring, I have had to help parents understand the way their children are being helped at school. It is often the case that parents are suddenly made aware that their child is not performing satisfactorily at school and look at his school report to see the words ‘School Action Plus’. This means that the school have identified the child as needing more help than can be provided within the school itself and outside agencies, such as an Educational Psychologist or a Specialist Teacher, have been brought in to help.
Terms such as 'School Action' are there to alert other teachers and classroom assistants that a child is receiving extra help from the class teacher and other professionals within the school, often a classroom assistant, to help with difficulties. This may be in the form of being taken out of the class and taught in small groups for a specific subject, particularly in reading and spelling. Some children in secondary schools may even have a room which they can go to at break times voluntarily, and work on computer programs to help with number work or spellings, for example.
When a child is deemed to still not be achieving, he will be given a Statement of Special Educational Need. This is a document which is written up with the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SEN) in the school, the local education authorising officer and the class teacher. Parents will be interviewed and a yearly review will enable the parents to talk to the SEN about how they think their child is progressing. There should also be an official from the council on hand to advise, and parents can make known any concerns that they may have. There is a cap on the number of Statements each council will offer, as there is only so much money available to spend on the extra provision, and for each child that is given a Statement, I have been told that one particular council makes up to £21,000 available to the school. This is a huge amount and parents are rightly anxious to see that it is spent wisely on their child.
Unfortunately, many schools do not get the provision requested for a child, and it is then that parents look around for a tutor with experience in the field of Special Needs. This may be a child who is finding it very hard to start to learn to read and may be termed ‘dyslexic’. This simply means that there is a difficulty with words, ‘dys’ meaning difficulty and ‘lexic’ meaning words. The qualification which qualifies a Specialist Teacher, is the Certificate in Specific Learning Difficulties and the higher level is the Diploma. The certificate level qualifies a teacher to teach the lessons and test for reading and spelling scores, as well as memory, whereas the diploma simply means that the teacher can assess for dyslexia. Only practising teachers, in whatever field and key stage they are teaching can apply to go on these courses and they have to have a work reference from their Head Teacher to substantiate their suitability, in terms of experience and personal qualities. They are able to assess the child, set targets and write up individual education plans in conjunction with Educational Psychologist Reports. They are also able to test for extra time needed in external exams, such as GCSEs and have to abide by a professional code of practice.
If you have a child who is in need of extra help and you feel that your child needs the support of a Specialist Teacher, you can find a tutor with the appropriate experience and qualifications. You can be sure that the teacher will have been assessed and examined on their ability to relate well to children on a one-to-one basis, set targets and provide tailor-made resources for the child. I wish you the best of luck in finding one.
